Cutting Tapezole and still feeling good - temporary???

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone...

A little over 2 weeks ago I posted my new labs (also below). I was

concerned that if I remianed on my current dosage of Tapezole

(10mg/day) I would be Hypo even though the Endo told me to stay at

that dosage and come back in 8 weeks. So I decided to cut down

gradually and see how I did. At the same time, I started tapering

off of the beta blocker from 100mg/day.

I went from 10mg of Tap to 7.5 for a few days them to 5mg for a few

days and now I'm only taking 2.5mg of Tap/day. I also cut from the

100mg of Atenolol to 50mg and am currently taking 25mg/day.

I feel just fine. I had a few days where I was exhausted and

constipated and feared that those were earlyu signs of Hypo and now

those symptoms are gone. I'm not scheduled for bloodwork until July

because the Endo thinks I'm still taking the same dosage but I think

in a couple of weeks I'll call and let them know that I've reduced

(alot) and see if they want labs sooner.

I'm actually amazed that I'm doing this well.....

Has anyone else had good results gutting back like this or is this

just temporary?

Current labs on 4/29 (while taking 10 mg of tapezole/day))

FREE T4 .71 (.61 - 1.76)

T3 150 (85 - 205)

TSH 0.004 (.35 - 5.5)

Labs on 4/8 (while taking 200mg/day PTU)

Free T4 1.08 (0.61 – 1.76)

T3 229 (85 - 205)

TSH not tested

[Guest guest]

Hi Elaine,

For me the key has been to decrease pretty slowly, and make sure I've felt

whatever the effect of each decrease is to the max before continuing on with

decreasing. So a few days at each level is perhaps too fast--but then again,

if you have such a low FT4, I'd think that you are pretty well

over-medicated, so the quicker decrease must be warranted.

If your endo thinks you should stay on 10 mg. with a .71 FT4, he's probably

looking more at the TSH than anything else, and unaware of the atd's ability

to skew that test and the fact that it lags by at least 6 weeks--and in some

people, simply never budges at all, based on stories we've all heard in this

group. From what I and others here have experienced, we GD people feel much

better with a higher FT4 than that--for me, 1.1 was way too low and I was

unable to even fully wake up, was tired all the time, gained weight (10 lbs.

in a week) just looking at food, etc. I KNEW I had to drop my dose! And my

endo agreed, saying that he could try to keep me on a higher dose till the

TSH rose more, but knew I'd be miserable and that it wasn't worth it.

If you're feeling good on your current dosage, I'd stay with it for a while.

I've had a similar journey to yours recently--I'm taking about 2 mg. of Tap

a day and have been now for a month plus. I'm very excited, because in

anticipation of my endo appt. on the 28th I have just had labs, including

the usual FT4 and TSh plus a FT3 and TSI for the first time in quite a

while. I will not stop taking ATD's until my TSI results come in at <2%,

because I am sure that if the antibodies are present, I still am not in

remission.

I too feel great on the low dose, although I got down this far once before

and bounced back hyper pretty quickly. Still am not sure if that's because

of a switch in generics the pharmacy made, to one that had no effect on me,

or whether I simply reduced my dose too quickly or too far. I'll never know,

but am determined this time not to rush.

Validate your mental and physical state constantly. Observe yourself, check

your pulse, blood pressure, pay attention to whether you are calm or

agitated, to how you react to stress, whether you are patient of fly off the

handle, whether you can eat normally and maintain normal weight, or if the

quick gaining starts (or quick weight loss or ravenous hunger, the hyper

flip side!), whether you have steady hands or are shaky--there are so many

clues to attend to, as to our state. I think learning to read ones self is

just as important as the blood tests, although the labs do at least give us

a bit of security--I figure if I feel this 'normal' my lab results will come

in normal.

One thing my endo has done for me is give me more than one lab slip at a

time. That way, when I feel like I need to have labs done between

appointments, I can just get them, and call his office for the results. It

gives me an extra bit of security.

Finally, remember that you have to educate your doctor. He will not

necessarily keep up with current literature, more than likely treats more

diabetics than GD people, and if he's like most, and has pushed RAI for

years, more hypo people than hyper.

By the way, I've ignored the beta blocker component of your meds, because I

have no advice from experience there. I couldn't take them, as I had low BP

and they made me faint, disoriented and woozy.

Terry

dx '95, currently on about 2 mg. Tap a day, plus Chinese herbs

>

> Reply-To: graves_support

> Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 01:43:43 -0000

> To: graves_support

> Subject: Cutting Tapezole and still feeling good -

> temporary???

>

> Hi everyone...

> A little over 2 weeks ago I posted my new labs (also below). I was

> concerned that if I remianed on my current dosage of Tapezole

> (10mg/day) I would be Hypo even though the Endo told me to stay at

> that dosage and come back in 8 weeks. So I decided to cut down

> gradually and see how I did. At the same time, I started tapering

> off of the beta blocker from 100mg/day.

> I went from 10mg of Tap to 7.5 for a few days them to 5mg for a few

> days and now I'm only taking 2.5mg of Tap/day. I also cut from the

> 100mg of Atenolol to 50mg and am currently taking 25mg/day.

> I feel just fine. I had a few days where I was exhausted and

> constipated and feared that those were earlyu signs of Hypo and now

> those symptoms are gone. I'm not scheduled for bloodwork until July

> because the Endo thinks I'm still taking the same dosage but I think

> in a couple of weeks I'll call and let them know that I've reduced

> (alot) and see if they want labs sooner.

> I'm actually amazed that I'm doing this well.....

> Has anyone else had good results gutting back like this or is this

> just temporary?

>

>

> Current labs on 4/29 (while taking 10 mg of tapezole/day))

> FREE T4 .71 (.61 - 1.76)

> T3 150 (85 - 205)

> TSH 0.004 (.35 - 5.5)

>

> Labs on 4/8 (while taking 200mg/day PTU)

> Free T4 1.08 (0.61 – 1.76)

> T3 229 (85 - 205)

> TSH not tested

>

>

>

>

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> Please consult your doctor before changing or trying new treatments.

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